


The Means Of A Soldier

by Rotschild



Series: Monsters and Heroes [11]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 20:05:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15517569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rotschild/pseuds/Rotschild
Summary: Talon breaks into Gibraltar Watchpoint.  Nothing that Jack cannot handle,  especially with Gabes warning. But sometimes people just run out of Luck and old Soldiers need a deserved rest.





	The Means Of A Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> I rearanged this one multiple times because I had a bunch of scenes I wanted in it really badly but had to figure out how to do the thing first. Hope it doesn't read like the Frankensteins monster it looks like in my notes. 
> 
> How did Moira end up with them, you ask?  
> Well, I don't know?!  
> But I promise we will find out together!
> 
> In the next days I will go over the old chapters and make some modifications. I won't change much, but I want to smooth it all out a little.

As Jack reached the eastgates the others were already taking position for its defense. Reinhardt took his place by Jacks side and lifted a giant hand to clap on his shoulder. It felt comforting familiar and rattled his teeth with the force behind it. "You think you can hold the gate with Ana?", Jack asked. 

But Reinhardt, like on any other day, wasn't worried at all. "Don't worry, my friend", he said and lifted his hammer over his shoulder like it didn't weigh a thing. His crusader armor clicked and rattled with his every movement. "I am your shield. And with our lovely captain by our side we can be sure that all Talon will get out of this, are some bloody noses."

Jack heard Ana chuckle over the ComLine. "Aaaw, Reinhardt", she drawled. "You old charmer."

Reinhardt turned with a big grin and lifted his free hand for a thumb up. Jack snorted a laugh. 

"Valkyrie online", was Angelas call right before she suddenly appeared beside him. "Everything alright, gentlemen?"

"If you call it 'alright' to prepare for an attack on our own home?", grumbled Torbjorn as the telltale noise of his hammer on metal halled over the ComLine and the yard. "Well, alright it is!" 

Angela cleared her throat and answered with a sniff. "Are you in any pain, Torb?"  
Torbjorn laughed roughly. "Hold some pills back for me. Their anti turret missiles give me always the worst headache. "

Angela rolled her eyes. "Will do."

Jack looked up to the pale blue sky. "Winston?", he said while he watched out for signs of enemy dropships. But right now it was eerily silent around the Watchpoint. "Is everything set up?"

Winston hummed and muttered until his voice halled loud and clear over the ComLine. "Athena is ready when you are. I gave her all controls over the cameras and the ground sensors. If Talon pulls some new technology out of their hats, she will get a good look at it for us."

That didn't sound too bad. Jack rubbed a hand over his face. If Athena spied at everything Talon used against them, it was at least a sure thing that they couldn't pull the same trick on them twice. 

"I want to stay with her", said Winston, meaning Athenas mainframe in his own laboratory. "It's possible that Talon is still after our database. "

If Talon got the opportunity to get their hands on a list of all active and inactive Overwatch agents, they would be mental not to take it. So yes, after they killed them all it was most likely their next step. "Yes", muttered Jack and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Keep an eye on the data. But be ready. We could be in dire need of a second shield."

Reinhardt huffed in affront, but Angela leaned heavily on her staff. "I miss Orisa. We should ask her for help again when this tumble is over. "

The Bastion unit let out an enthusiastic beep and rattled themselve into position on the opposite side of the gate. The unnerving familiar sound made Jack flinch and as he turned to look up, he felt his stomach drop at the sight of a fully loaded and dangerous gattling gun. Bastion beeped again and waved with their tiny repair tool. Well, Jack thought bitterly, if even one Talon agent felt as uneasy as him when they saw that thing, maybe it would give them a tiny advantage. 

"I don't think we will have too much trouble with them", said Winston while the sound of a screw-cap in the background betraid his nervousness. "But I still would like to have at least one of you near the Medbay."

It was a good point. In Jacks experience Talon went after the weak links first. The youngest agents, the oldest or the injured. Talon never played it fair. Even though Genji was awake, he wouldn't be able to fight until he was fully repaired. Lucio was with him and worked on it, but it was most likely that they had to fight this battle without him. 

And Lena? She wasn't even conscious and way too exhausted to zip around and stick bombs to their enemies. Maybe the second Shimada would help them out? 

But Jack wouldn't count on that either. The Shimadas and Overwatch... a bad and bloody history laid buried there.

Without Genji, they missed a hell of a mobile threat against Talon. Even though he always was a pain for Angela to keep track of. 

The omnic monk let out a deep electronic hum and turned to Bastion, who sat on a vantagepoint high above them. "Tell me your thoughts, my friend."

The thing seemed to have many. It beeped and booped in short frequencies till Zenyatta answered with a laugh. "You are right!", he said and sounded almost delighted. "Let them come and we will teach them a lesson in humility."

Fareeha stomped onto the yard, pushed her hair back before she put her helmet on and then leaned against Reinhardts other shoulder. "I will spot any intuders that sneak through our line of defense", she snarled without any thoughts of mercy. 

"And I will ram them into the ground", said Brigitte who sat by the entrance and made some minor adjustments to her shield. 

So, all in all the front door seemed good and well protected against whatever threat they were about to face. 

Jack let out a silent sigh. Exhausted he rolled his stiff shoulders and vehemently thought about his utter hatred for 'young people' while doing so. Everything felt so raw this damn morning. He wasn't sure if it just were the jittery nanites under his skin or if the advanced athritis in his old joints had a silent comeback. Jack groaned as his joints popped noisily. 

Who was he kidding. This damn day was bad enough already. He could deal with only being the backup plan for once. 

"Then I will hold the backdoor and take out the unlucky ones who get through", he huffed and lifted his rifle over his shoulder. He already turned to go, as Angela held him back on his arm. 

"You really think you are alright?", she asked with a sharp doctors eye. Jack roled his eyes. "I'm not a young man anymore, Angela. But I will survive. Like I always do."

Angela hummed and pulled a face. "You and I know, that 'always' isn't quite true."

Jack ignored her for the sake of low blood pressure and turned around to go. "No one will come close enough to touch the doors", he grumbled. "D. Va? With me."

Hana stood somewhat off-site while she tested the systems of her Mech Unit. As Jack called her name, she turned instantly with the sour look of a teenager, that got disturbed doing highly important things. "Why me again? ", she muttered darkly. Yes, Jack felt the love. Most likely they would never get quiet on, but at least she was used to follow orders. "I will need a shield", he said. "And besides that, your Mech is the ideal last defence for us."

Hana wrinkled her nose and climbed off of her drones arm. "I don't like to blow them up, you know?!", she grumbled, but slipped into the machine to follow him anyway. 

Jack nodded to her and went on his way. "Alright, guys. Just call me back, should the Reaper give you too much of a headache."

"Want to hug it out?"

Jack froze. As he slowly turned around, Hana used the holo projectors of her Mech Unit to form a blocky heart shape while she grinned wide like a cat. "Winkyface!"

Jacks face and neck flushed instantly in a deep red, not even sure if in embarrassment or anger. Angela and Reinhardt looked at each other before they broke out in spluttering laughter.

Jack closed his eyes and bit through his teeth, "Stop screwing around and get ready to 'move'!"

Hana laughed without any care. 

"Whatever you say, pops!" 

But she followed him anyway. 

 

\---------

 

On the other side of the base, behind hangar one echo one, everything was eerily quiet. Jack sat in a croach and checked his equipment for the last time. His weaponry was fine, his service pistol replaced and he had enough biotic canisters to survive an apocalypse. 

It didn't feel right though. What made Jack worry the most, was that Talon didn't even think it could be nessessary to launch their attack on Watchpoint Gibraltar in the dark. Right now it was not even 10 AM and the day was bright and colorful. There were a lot of singing birds and a warm breeze. This day would be ideal for a trip to the beach. 

"No rest for the wary", Jack muttered bitterly and felt reminded of the omnic crisis. There were a lot of bright and colorful days like this, until they suddenly weren't anymore. 

"You all shouldn't order me to stay behind like that", said Hana with a sour look. "My Mech is in superb condition? Could crush some guys with a boost!"

Jack snorted and spared a look at her sulking form. In a mood she sat on the clunky arm of her massively big pink warmachine and had a good long sulk. Jack remembered being so young that any kind of tactical positioning felt like an insult to his abilities. She would grow out of it. They all did, eventually.

"War isn't a game, Hana", he huffed. Hana lifted her brows and looked down from her higher position. "Are you sure 'Life' isn't a game, 'Soldier 76'?"

Jack sniffed. Damn those teenagers. 

This attitude and snotty tone of voice would haunt him in his sleep, together with McCrees badest puns. 

Suddenly Jack was washed over by a feeling of being... not only just 'old', but being an ancient sod that sat on benches and shrieked 'get off my lawn!' at bypassing youngsters. God knew, he was old enough for that. "Just try not to get yourselve killed out there", he bit back. Hana wrinkled her nose. "You know that I am a soldier, too? I am-..."

But she stopped in her words and lifted her eyes to watch the other side of the hangar. "They are coming", she wispered and sprung up to slip smoothly like an eel into her Mech.  
Jack hummed lowly. He could hear it, too. Smoothly he ducked and rushed into the hangar to take cover behind the old cratings full of metal scraps and old equipment that already stood longer there than Jack could even remember. Better than to stand out in the open when he wasn't the one protected by a armed to it's teeth war machine. 

But the fight that broke out on the other side of the base seemed to go well enough. It didn't sound too worrying and the Team didn't ask for backup over the ComLine. 

Together Jack and Hana took position and waited more or less patiently for something to happen. Some explosions shook the ground and the steady as well as rhythmical noise of gattlinggun fire made Jacks teeth ache. 

As Jack almost felt bored already and at the same time jittery like a leaf, because 'nothing was happening', something weird happened. 

A Talon Soldier rushed out of the dust outside right into the hangar. He cut the corner in horrific speed, literally running for his life. All the while he muttered and cursed like some out of place master of pretty bad life decisions, that sounded slightly muffled behind his mask. 

"Go with them, he said", he immitated a grave deep voice. "It will be fun and you will get actual field experience, he said. Won't be so bad with the redguard and all, he fucking said!!"

Someone seemed to have a monumentally bad day. 

Jack exchanged a skeptical look with Hana and she lifted the clunky arms of her Mech in an answering shrug. She got herself into position. The Mech creaked into motion and took two ground shaking steps as she looted out it's balance.

The noisy movement of the Mech Unit caught the runners attention and he almost buried his heels into the asphalt to make himself come to a stop. "What...", gasped the Talon agent absolutely terrified. "The actual fuck...?!" 

"Heya", answered Hana with a wide cat-like grin, a wave and a giggle. The Talon operative stood stone still as if it would prevent her from stomping him to death if she needed to. But then, as he got his witts back together, he lifted his rifle - but was smart enough not to shoot. So Jack thought. But in the end it seemed to be a less thought out reason than a massive pink war machine. 

"A girl?!", the guy shrieked, completely out of his mind. Hanas wide grin faded comically fast. "Yeees... "

Jack couldn't see the guy without giving away his position, but he sounded weirdly horrified for a paid mercenary or a zealous terrorist. "I can't just shoot a girl?!", the guy again shrieked in horror. 

Funny enough, Hanas look turned dark and sour in the blink of an eye. "Why the fuck not?!", she snapped in protest. Jack almost gave away his position with snort. 

The Talon agent hesitated but then got step by step nearer. Jack felt his damn nanites nagging him again, while they coursed a prickling sensation in his nape that let his hair stand on edge. 

"I can't shoot a little girl!", the Talon operative screamed in a fit that made him look like he was about to stomp his foot down like a five year old. "Nobody said anything about kids?!"

He was almost lost in hysterics - which would have been a reasonable reaction for some guy ... who wasn't a paid terrorist. This was awkward. "Overwatch are some sick fucks! How old are you, little lady? Sixteen or something?!"

Hana bristled and red spots appeared in her cheecks all down to her throat. "For your information", she said slowly in noticeably forced calmness. "I am a twentyone year old war veteran who survived the Korean MEKA Drone program. thrice." 

The runner stopped just three steps out of reach, but Jack felt kind of invested in how this nice talk would end, anyway. "Wait, wait, wait!... MEKA? Weren't that these crazy bastards who sent kids to fight in the crisis? With that weird video-game Obsession?!"

Again Hana shrugged and wrinkled her nose in distaste. "No one's ever beaten my highscores."

The runner went silent. He didn't move, but Jack could basically hear the gears turning in his head. Suddenly he let out a shocked gasp. "Dammit, you are Hana Song, aren't you?!"

That seemed to appease her and Hana answered with a cat-like grin. "Bingo", she sing-songed. The Talon operative most likely would have pulled his hair out in frustration, if he hadn't worn a helmet. Groaning he turned around and finally stomped his foot down like a five year old. His voice quivered as if he was ready to cry. "I can't just shoot fucking Hana Song! My daughter is a big fan, you know!?"

Hanas face lit up like a lightbulb. "Ah?"

The guy exhaled like a deflating balloon. "Oh 'yes'! And 'fuck' if she wouldn't change the locks on me and feed my sorry arse to the dogs, if I-... "

He just stopped. Again he loudly thought and Jack was almost sure he could hear the ticking noise of his brain. "You know what?", the guy suddenly said weirdly composed. "Fuck this. 'Fuck those guys'. Im shooting no girl. I'll go home. If they are sick enough to shoot little girls, fuck them!"  
Jack blinked and wasn't sure if he got that right. The sound of a thrown away rifle left him fully astonished. A defector.  
The guy seemed to want just to walk by D. Va out of the hangar and off too wherever he saw fit. Jack couldn't believe it. The same as Hana. She was also stunned by this audacity and looked at Jack for some kind of helpful input. Jack answered with a shrug. 

As soon as the defector stepped around the crates into Jacks sight, he shot out of his cover and got his neck in a sure and iron grip. Before the Talon soldier could even blink, Jack kicked his legs out from under him and slammed him face first right into the ground. "And 'stay' down", he growled. Forceful he pressed his knee in the defectors neck and pulled his arms on his back. 

Hana watched the entrance while Jack fixated the defector with long strands of synthetic, that he cut off from the white coverings of the storage cratings. But no one else was coming. Everything stayed calm and silent in the hangar. 

Jack let out a deep sigh while he regarded his handiwork. The defector groaned as he tried miserably to move his arms, but they were fixated strong enough that he only could curl his fingers. "... I guess, ... I deserved that... ", he mumbled into the concreate through a most likely broken nose. 

Jack nodded shortly. "I guess, you are right."

Hana groaned. "Some more one liners?"

Jack couldn't but let out a snort. "McCree loves them, don't be like that."  
But, well... McCree wasn't here. Good reason to get rid of these guys fast. In a bad mood Jack left his pulserifle behind by the cover and lifted the Talon defector easy and fast over his shoulder, even if his joints croaked as if he was an omnic with sand in his gears. "Whatever. I get our dad of the month to a save place. Wait and call me back if something happens."

Hana looked quite sceptical as he passed her by. "Sure", she muttered.

The prisoner garbled a curse. "Shut the hell up, you punk", Jack grunted out and yanked the guy into a position that was easier to carry. "We are pretty nice around here, so no need for any complains. Everything golden, Reinhardt?"

The ComSign in his free Hand emitted a loud static noise till Reinhardts almost manical laugh filled his ears. "A Dropship full of them!" He boomed in excitement, "Bring. It. On! I LIVE for this!!"

Reinhardts battle cry was followed by the rumbling noise of an engine and the sound of crushing metal. 

"They got right through our front door, like Gabriel said", commented Ana drily. "Not too many of them. We should be fine."

"For now, at least", Jack murmured. "Got a runner and bring him in."

"Good work!", said Ana. "Just be careful, Jack."

Jack nodded. "Like in the good old days."

Then he inserted the security code into the panel and opened the door to the Medbay with an angry kick. 

 

\-------------- 

 

Lucio felt profoundly uncomfortable as the only buffer between the two estranged brothers. Technically there was a second one, but Lena wasn't really of 'any' help.  
She could have been, but no, all she did was lay dead still on her cod and snore silently like some sleepy kitten. Lucio wasn't able to understand how someone could even think of sleep in this kind of cold and electrical charged athmosphere. 

After Soldier took off to get into his combat gear, Angela went to the barracks too and left the two remaining patients in Lucios care. Lucio was used to that, no he really was. Taking care of people was what he did, that wasn't the problem. 

The problem was this middle aged and murdoures thundercloud not even three steps away from him. At all times Hanzo Shimada loomed just one step out of his sight and, with his magical dragonpowers, made the air glimmer and flicker around him like the sun did on the hottest day. At least Lucio had something to do, because otherwise this awkward kind of loud silence between the brothers would have gnawed him down to the bones. 

In the last hour he did a full backup of Genjis software and got most of the shrapnel out of the spaces between his connecting armor parts. Right now he was working on Genjis right shoulder though. Even with the software update something wasn't working right. Genji couldn't lift his arm over his head. Said it didn't hurt, but it felt like something was stuck. Maybe it was a cable chord or the broken head of a screw. Something that got loose through Genjis erratic movements. 

"Don't move now", Lucio muttered in concentration as he carefully pulled the artificial muscles out of the way without dislodging more connections than needed. "Whatever is locked there, we will get it out soon."

Cautiously Lucio held Genjis shoulder in place and searched with his free hand for the tray. He needed one of the longer pliers for this. 

Genji let out a silent electronic hum. "You know, most doctors get way too deep under my skin, these days. "

Lucio humed an answer till his brain caught up with him. "Well", he said with a snort. "It's not my fault you basically always run into battle buttass naked and I have to clean you out when it's done. "

Genji would have shrugged if Lucio hadn't held his shoulder still. "Can you even imagine me wearing any pants?"

In an instant the mental image of Genji in a nice white Tuxedo appeared right before Lucios eyes. Nicer was just the random thought of him in one of Lucios older sweatshirts. "Yeah, you would probably look pretty ridiculous", he lied. 

But where the hell was that pl-...  
Right as Lucio wanted to turn and search for that darn thing himself, Hanzos hand appeared right in front of his nose with the tool between his long and elegant fingers. Lucio nearly jumped out of his skin. In the last minutes he almost managed to forgot that the guy was even there. 

Hanzo was a scary kind of man. He didn't even need to try. His face was absolutely blank as he held out the tool for Lucio. "Uh... Yes...", he muttered and took the plier, not sure if he should trust the thing anymore. "Thank you."

If Hanzo caught on to the obvious distrust in his direction, to his credit, he didn't seem to mind at all. Hanzo didn't pay much attention to Lucio anyway. 

But there was a burning curiosity in his eyes every time Genji moved. He watched almost mesmerized, but still with this eerily blank look as if it would kill him so show just one spec of emotion. 

Even though probably nobody would call him ever out on it, the guy seemed pretty nosy. 

As Lucio shook himself out of his stare and got back to work, Hanzo shifted just this little bit closer to him that made it kind of awkward. 

"Now hold still. Breath deeply and tell me if I hurt you", Lucio said as he pushed the plier through the synthetic muscles and fished for the foreign object in Genjis artificial joint. 

Genji didn't seem to mind the extra attention he got from his brother. He just tilted his head a little more and stretched his arm in a way that gave Hanzo a better look at what Lucio was doing.

Now with most of the pretty white and green shell gone, one had a nice view over the inner workings of the full right side of Genjis body. All the artificial muscles, tendons and bones, that connected to Genjis more vulnerable flesh and made quite clear that even beneath his real skin, there was a lot of not biodegradable stuff. To see an example of what one could archive with modern prosthetics, was pretty damn awesome. 

But... well.. guess not, if one was a insensitive dickhead about it. "So... That's what they made of him."

Anger shot hot and lightning quick into Lucios head and made him feel dizzy as well as a bit murderous. 'What 'you' made of him', he wanted to spat into the brothers face - and break his nose while he was already at it. But he took a deep breath and hummed a deep note to help him concentrate on what he was actually doing. It wasn't his place to brain the guy. Genji could do it himself anytime. 

Genji however didn't seem bothered at all. "I wanted to walk again", he said easily enough. "So yes. That's me now. With nuts, bolts and everything."

Lucio couldn't help the snort. "Yeah. Nuts. Way too many nuts."

"Oh come on", Genji laughed. "You would not love me even half as much, if I- AH!", he twitched so intensely, that Lucio jerked back in reflex and almost tipped over his seat. 

"That I felt, alright!", Genji huffed through clenched teeth while prickly gooseflesh shot up his exposed left arm. 

Lucio needed two deep breaths to get his hands steady again. "Sorry", he giggled. "But that's good. Really good. Means your systems are finally booting up again."

 

But it also meant, he shouldn't work under Genjis skin anymore without some kind of sedative. At least till the sensors had adjusted themselves and weren't shooting random bits of data around anymore that got interpreted as impulses of severe pain. "Hmmm, wait."

Before he went to work again, Lucio leaned back and turned on the musicbox on the counter. Where the usual sedatives needed mostly flesh and blood to work, all Lucios healing beat needed was a pair of open ears and a functioning brain. As the melodie poured into the room, little nicks and cuts on Genjis flesh heald away in seconds. Some especially stubborn bruises needed a little longer to fade. „Thats better", Genji hummed. 

'By a lot', thought Lucio with a satisfied smile.

"What-... ", again Lucio jumped the moment Hanzo reminded him of his unwanted presence. "How does that work?"

At least he sounded astonished enough by this little wonder of science, while he watched his own little injuries just fade out of existence. Still, Lucio most likely would have pettily ignored him, if it hadn't been for Genji and the sharp little kick to Lucios ankle. 

So he asked: "Did you know that cats purr in a frequency that calms their anxiety, ease their pain and helps them to heal?"  
Hanzo furrowed his brows. "...Well, 'now' I do."

Lucio snorted. "My dad studied how music and sound affects human brains. As Vishkar took over Rio, I stole his work back from them and build on it's healing qualities."

Hanzo tilted his head. "So... basically, you use music that works for humans like purring works for cats...?"

Lucio pulled a face. "Basically."

Genji broke out in wheezing laughter that got him a clear "Shut up!" from both Lucio and his brother. 

With a deep huff Lucio got back to work. But even with his healing beat and a strong and long plier, the scrap in Genjis shoulder joint didn't move easily. Genji shuddered and twitched some more. It was like pulling a solid object out of a meat grinder. In the end Lucio had to press a knee in Genjis side and lean his full weight into it. As the thing finally broke loose, it was only through Hanzos fast reflexes that Lucio didnt ram his skull into the counter behind him.

„HAH!“, he cheered and lifted the tool in which he held the darn little thing like a celebration torch. His feet dangled in the air and the back of his head was pressed against Hanzos tight. But Lucios bright and satisfied grin fell right out of his face, as he actually looked at what he pulled out of Genjis body. 

"What is it? ", asked Hanzo and bowed over Lucio to see, while Genji still shivered and shuddered through the rebound of irritated and tingeling artificial nerve endings. 

Lucio slowly closed his eyes and wrinkled his nose, while he took some deep and calming breaths. "It's a knife", he bit through his clenched teeth. "Or was one. It's one part of the blade, see."

He sat up and held his finding out for Hanzo to inspect. It was just the tip of a standard issue military knife. The blade between the pliers was sharp, dully black and horrendously crushed, grinded and bent through the movements of Genjis shoulder joint. 

Genjis head shot up and his eyes widened in outrage, even through he still looked like a spooked cat. "Someone 'knifed' me?", he shrieked in an offended high pitched voice. "Me?!"

Lucio wanted to scream at him, strangle him and kiss him all at once. The rumbling sound of big brother Hanzo laughing his fucking ass off got him distracted though. "Just as when we were boys!", the guy wheezed and leaned on the counter. "Always so slow."

"Shut the hell up!", spat Genji back, sharp as the knife that stuck in his shoulder just a moment ago. It was suddenly so easy to imagine two bantering boys only half their size. 

Lucio cleared his throat and leaned into Genjis line of sight. His hand laid with a sure grip on his shoulder. "Could I get your attention? please?"

Genji twitched at the contact and turned instantly. "Of course, what-... "

Lucio curled the fingers of his free hand around Genjis chin and tilted his head up. His fingertips were badly itching for any kind contact. "Your twitchy little cyborg ass should turn your volume down a notch or two", he said with a smile so sharp it could have cut through flesh and bone. "Until you don't feel the need anymore to test out your mortality."

Genji stilled in his grasp. Uncomfortable he swallowed and looked from Lucio to Hanzo and back again. "I-... uh", he muttered. "I did not -... What do you mean...?"

But Lucio had absolutely no patience for Genjis weak deflections. "I mean", he hissed darkly right into Genjis face. "That this was a damn close call!" Lucios throat closed up as his mind was flooded with dozens of scenarios in which Genji might hadn't woken up to be repaired. 

Hard Lucio pressed his thumb right into the place the knife had got jammed into. "They stabbed you right here, right between the connections of your shell!", he bit out in bristeling anger. "That knife reached deep", Lucio followed Genjis clavicle and pressed his fingertip into the warm flesh beneath. "All the way up to here. You have any idea what that means?!"

Genji watched him attentive. Of course he knew. As a trained Assassin he knew probably at least nintyeight ways to kill a person with a simple pen.  
But it was like he wanted Lucio to say it. So he did. "A ruptured artery", he bit out. "If it had been your left side, you would be dead now. Without aid you would have bled out in minutes."

Lucio sat back down. He needed a moment after this. While he took a deep breath, he rubbed both his hands over his face. 

Hanzo had watched the exchange unmoved and mostly in dismissive manner, but then suddenly a spark of interested gleamed in his eyes. "So, i-... 'he' can still die...?", he asked sceptically. 

The room went so silent you could have heard a pin drop somewhere. At the same time it felt like all oxigen got sucked out of the room. Or set on fire for that matter. 

Lucios head shot up in pure, venomous outrage. "So, he can still-...", he babbled, unable to even comprehend Hanzos callous and so very mindless question. He took a step back and again rubbed his face, this time accompanied by a furious howl, that got muffled only through his hands. As he whipped around, he stood nose to nose with big brother and wanted to claw that damn guys face off. "'Of course' he can die, you absolute fucking 'moron'!!"

But what was he even thinking?!  
He screamed at the guy, who put Genji in this horribly painful position in the first place!  
"You should beg for his forgiveness you lowlife 'shitweasel'!!", he roared. "Now that you got the 'balls' to show your god damn face around here, you should 'cry and beg for his forgiveness' and praise 'the wonders of modern medicine' that made it possible for him to survive what you did to him! It's a miracle! He's a wandering miracle, you son of a-...!"

Genjis warm hand on his shoulder reminded Lucio suddenly of at whom he was actually screaming. Bitter he swallowed his comment, even if he still felt tempted to stab that damn older brother to death with a tea spoon, just because it was a dull weapon and would hurt a pretty damn lot more than a fucking fork! 

"Please let our dear mother out of this", said Genji in way too much delighted amusement that made Lucio suddenly want to yell at him, too. 

But he lost his chance as Genji broke out in helpless laughter that shook his whole frame. While Genji laughed himself to tears, his brother crossed his arms in front of his chest and sneered. "I am not here because of-...", it was as if he had to bring in tons of effort to actually say it aloud. "...my 'brother'. I am not here because Talon or Overwatch. I do not care for 'any' of this."

Hanzos face turned itself again into a blank mask. His sharp eyes turned to Genji. "I am here because I paid a debt. And because you have the resources I will need to get back what was stolen from me. Self proclaimed heroes and their rightous causes are no concern of mine. "

Lucio needed some more deep breaths to get rid of that hateful desire to hurt the guy. His fingers curled and uncurled in stiff motions. Genjis hand, still on his shoulder, pulled him slightly backward. By god, Lucio didn't even notice how toe on toe he got with big brother.

Genji sat up straight and let out a deep sigh. Suddenly he turned sober and as depressingly earnest as one could get. "I know, Hanzo. And I also know, that it was never your fault."

Hanzo stared motionless till his upper lip twitchingly exposed his canines in a bitter sneer that made him also look slightly unhinged. "What do 'you' even know about anything."

Genji tilted his head. "That you did what you did with the future of our clan in mind. You had to. I was a turncoat who wanted out and it was your responsibility as the heir to get rid of the leak."

This was what Genji had wanted for so long. This moment. Lucio swallowed his solidary anger and accepted that he was an intruder in this. But still, Genji would need 'so many' hugs after this hateful bullshit was talked over.  
On stiff legs Lucio stepped aside to let the brothers talk. Even through he 'maybe' stayed ready to step in anytime - for what good it would do him between two, if not three, weoponized magical dragons. 

Hanzo answered his brother with a sharp snort and a venomously bitter grin, while he coiled even more into himself. Almost like a snake seconds from the deadly strike. "You do not know what you are talking about. Do not embarrass yourself. "

But if Hanzo could do angry and creepy, so could Genji. Genji tilted his head slowly like a lurking reptile. The cybernetic implants in his eyes made his stare gleam in burning red. "I know ", he said especially slow. "That, back then, neither of us had even one genuine choice in our whole life, brother."

Hanzo didn't elude Genjis stare. His nose wrinkled as his face turned dangerous. "...Do not..."

But Genji didn't falter for a second. 

Lucio doubted that even the Rio revolution demanded this kind of courage of him. Holy shit this guy was scary. And he was family, too. 

Genji leaned slightly back and pulled one leg against his chest to prop himself up. "Do not forget, that I 'chose' to defect, Hanzo. I knew exactly that it would end me. And you? What you did to protect our family almost claimed your life and sanity as well."

Hanzo pulled a face like he bit into a lemon, but Genji still didn't stop talking. "I know", he said with emphasis. "That you mourned both our lifes that got lost in old traditions. And I am so tired of hating the man who gave me my freedom from these traditions in the first place. Even if it almost got me killed in the end."

Genji lifted his hands in a disarming gesture and shook slowly his head. "You are not despised, Hanzo. Nor are you hated. All I want for us is... to let the past go. To put that old nightmare to a rest like it should have happened a long time ago."

Hanzo watched him like a hawk. Who the hell knew what he was searching for, but as he not seemed to find it, his shoulders sagged down with a deep exhale. "... Was that a prepared speech?", he asked. 

Genji snorted. "Actually, yes."

Hanzo pulled a face and again let out a deep breath while he slowly shook his head. "A ridicoules fool, you are."  
It was funny how fast Genji took affront in that comment. "Hey, I am nervous, alright? I did not see you in almost a year and Talon was out to get you killed!"

Hanzo had nothing to say to that, so Genji rambled and grouched on. "I hoped to give a better impression this time so that you would not vanish into thin air again. McCree would not have liked that at all, I suppose now. "

Hanzos gaze fell to the ground while the bitter sneer on his face turned vengeful as well as murderous. "McCree... ", he muttered as if he tried out an unfamiliar word on his tongue. 

Genji noticed his mistake and winced. "Ah, yes, uhm", he mumbled. "His name was a different one back then, was it not? "

Hanzo wrinkled his nose in obvious distaste. "So was mine", he murmured. As he looked up again his eyes had an otherworldly blue shine to them. "Morricone. Joel Morricone is the one."

Genji slowly tilted his head. Even hidden under his face plate his suddenly shining eyes betrayed a grin that almost split his face in half. "The one, indeed, it seems."

Lucio almost got a heart attack as Hanzo grabbed a medical knife from the tray and threw it with the accuracy of a trained assassin at his little brother. Genji deflected it in a simple reflex and again broke out in rumbling laughter. 

"Shut the fuck up, Genji! ", Hanzo roared like a wild beast. "Don't mock me, you little shit!"

But Genji laughed so hard his whole frame shook noisily. "Aaaw, do not be like that, brother!", he giggled and rubbed tears out of his eyes. "It's just so cute. You even talk like him!"

That froze Hanzo up pretty quickly. He looked quite shocked. But then his face formed to a dangerous grimace as he tilted his head and his eerie stare fell to the ground. "I want him back", he growld so full of vengeful energy his eyes shone with it, while bright sparks crackled around his figure. 

Genji stopped laughing. "I know", he murmured. "Me too. We will get him home, don't worry."

Hanzo lifted his head to hiss something angry and poisonous back, but he got distracted as the door opened with a loud bang. 

Soldier strolled in. He carried a guy in red and black bodyamor over his shoulder as if that was just something people did around here. "Hey", he said in greeting with a short salut. "Lucio, do you think you have left some space here somewhere?"

The guy over his shoulder groaned miserably. 

Lucio turned slowly around to Soldier with wide eyes and felt ready for actual murder. "Who. the fuck. is that?!", he said and pointed at the Talon guys masked face. 

Soldier shrugged and jostled his captive without any care. "Don't know. Some guy. A runner, though. Maybe we can get something useful out of him. "

Lucio wanted to pull his hair out. "Just... put him somewhere there out of the way", he finally said while he rubbed his face and gestured to the space to the left of Lenas cot. 

Soldier grinned wide like a shark, seemed to be suddenly in a pretty good mood. "Thanks. Feeling spry, Genji?"

Of course Genji sat up straight instantly while Soldier went around them and let the dead weight just fall where he was told. A muffled groan followed the motion. "I am repaired", Genji answered. 

Soldier nodded. "Good. Think you can fight?"

Genji already took a breath to answer that, but Lucio thought it was pretty nessecary to step in before he could say anything daft and hurt himself any further. "You are not really asking to-...?! "

"No, no, just checking", said Soldier and clapped Lucios shoulder as he went by. "looks good out there. Only this one guy pushed through. Everything is under-... "

A sudden shift went through the earth under their feet. Lucio had to reach out fast to the counter to hold himself upright. "What was that?!"

Soldier shot up and opened his mouth - but whatever he said got drowned out by a deafening loud rumble that washed over them all like a wave. It came with a strong change in air pressure and Lucio had to swallow several times to get rid of the painful humm in his ears. 

It lasted for almost a minute. When it was finally over, Soldier didn't wait a second. He turned around instantly and rushed through the door so fast, he almost rammed his left shoulder through the doorway. 

Exasperated Lucio changed a look and a silent argument with Genji. Of course the ninja won with ease. "Yeees, get ready, but your god damn cyborg ninja ass never jumps outer my reach, got it?!"

Genji answered in his best and brightest shit eating grin. Somebody ask Lucio how he knew that, if only the upper half of his face was exposed. "Sure, Doc!", Genji said with a wink. 

This would end in utter catastrophic bullshit. Especially because there was no time to replace the broken parts of Genjis shell. Even though Lucio had seen old photos of Genjis Blackwatch days, with lots of exposed skin and not any less deadly, he didn't 'want' Genji in a fight with Talon so much exposed to possible injuries. 

So he stepped into his gear and lifted his sonic amplifier over his shoulder. Genji wouldn't look out for himself like always. So lucio had to do it for him. 

As he turned to Hanzo to ask what he was about to do, he only saw his shadow as Hanzo already spurted through the opened door.

A nosy guy, indeed. 

And Lena? She lazily snored through all of it. 

 

\- ---------

 

Jack ran faster than he did in years. He was sure he even strained something while doing so. "Fareeha. What is happening out there? Are you alright?! Fareeha?!", he gasped into the ComLink, but she didn't respond. No 'clear skies ahead!' this time. 

Or maybe she did and he didn't hear her. Jack still felt dizzy from the sudden pressure in his head. His ears rang with a pretty bad tinitus. So it wasn't a wonder, that he also didn't hear the rumble of the rabble fall. 

As he rushed around the corner he was sure his heart dropped somewhere down into his boots, because a giant black wall roled right in his direction, comprising of thick smog, concrete dust and fire-like heat. He lifted his arms barely fast enough to shield his eyes and face. But he made the fatal error of breathing in - he blamed the sudden shock for it - and got a lung full of soot for his troubles. 

Hacking and caughing he scratched with blunt nails and fingertips over his face to get the oily dirt out of his burning eyes. Disoriented he stretched out his arms and searched for something to hold onto, because he was blind and his ears were filled with a sharp ringing tinitus and everything was just 'wrong'! 

He didn't need someone to tell him that shit just got real this time. Talon loved to make a big show out of anything they did, like a shiny black Peacock that was utterly obsessed with how evil it was. This was one of their messages again, Jack was sure of it. 

He screamed for Hana as loud as his hitching lungs allowed him, but he still couldn't hear himself scream and speak. Maybe It wasn't only because of the tinitus. The oily dust clung to his skin like tar and even clogged his ears. 

He almost sprung like a scared cat, as one Arm of Hanas Mech slung suddenly around his middle and pulled him with it. His fingers curled around the heated metal and he blindly let himself led away.

Suddenly his sight was clear again. At least... As clear as it could be right now. They stood by the gate of Hangar one. And while on the other end of the hall some smog curled through the gate,

most of the wave had washed around and over the building. Coughing with a damn sore throat he turned to D. VA. 

He could see she talked to him with wide eyes and big gestures, but everything Jack could sense was muffled and at the same time so damn loud. And while he was mostly fluent in ASL, he never got the hang on lipreading. So the conversation got pretty much onesidet as he screamed right into her face. "The others, are they alive?! What the actual fuck happened back there?!"

Hana leaned back from him with an expression of annoyance and terror all at once. He tried for the ComSign and pressed it hard against his ear. "What happened?! Are you guys alright?! Any sign of some familiar faces? Sombra? The Reaper or Ameli?!", he asked. He would at this stage even settle for Morira. Just anyone of Talons agents that wasn't possibly just an expandable decoy. 

Hanas Mech knocked into his arm to get his attention, while she pointed to the other side of the empty hall. Out of the setteling smoke dashed two irritating my fast shadows. Talon Agents in all their red and black glory. An explosion right behind them let them almost tumble to the ground and Jack was full of relieve to recognize one of Fareehas concuasive blast missiles. 

He didn't wait any longer for context or confirmations, Jack just sprinted forward and slid as the first bullets rained down on him into the saving cover of the storage cratings. On autopilot in an old and familiar rythm he went for his left behind Pulserifle, checked the ammunition and waited for the agents to reload. As soon as they did, Jack shot out of his cover and took them out in the blink of an eye with two short bursts of fire right into their heads. They fell like tangled puppets. "Huh...love the smell of pulse munitions in the morning", he bit out in so much this sarcasm. 

Sharp he shook his head and knocked with a flat hand against his right ear while he strolled over to the two dead agents. Again, it were just two random no-names. The poor bastards went to hell and back even before their unfortunate end. Their tactical gear was full of grime and soot and the slightly bigger guy had a broken arm for sure, while his companion was covered in bullet imprints all over his safety gear. At least four bullets got their mark. It would be interesting to know what stuff Talon pumped into their guys to keep them going, even if they were almost dead on their feet. 

With a low hum he began to search the bigger one for something like a communicator or even a bullet list of instructions. Something that resembled at least some kind of organized attack plan. 

This time he didn't jump out of his skin as Hana appeared beside him. While her voice was still muffled in his ears and he had to fill in some gaps with a good guess, he was at least now able to communicate with her without screaming dozens of 'WHAT?!'s in her face. 

"They crashed their Dropship", she said. Jack janked and pulled something long and soft out of the guys pocket. "They did?", but it just was a damn pack of gums. With an irritated noise he threw it over his shoulder and opened up the straps of the thick combatgear. "Yes", Hana giggled. "Right into our meeting hall."

The meeting hall?!  
Bewildered Jack looked up, but Hana only shrugged. "Wasn't 'my' plan. The thing just fell down like a stone. Biiig explosion."

Jack nodded and searched in the guys Jacket. He didn't even wear dog tags or some kind of identification. "Are the others alright?"  
Hana looked a little helpless and shrugged again. "There's still lots of noise in the Coms that shouldn't be there but I guess they are busy with a lot of damagecontrol."  
Jack nodded again in thought. He couldn't think of a good reason why Talon would want to suicide bomb an empty building. Yes, under the hall were the tunnels to the generators - hence the pretty impressive explosion - but all Agents except for Lena, Genji and Lucio should be in the field. There was absolutely no reason for this bullshit. 

"Maybe they just want us to relocate our base to somewhere more convenient for them", he grumbled. He pulled a knife out of the agents Jacket and threw it aside. 

"Don't you think that's a lot of wasted assets for an attack on our actual base?", said Hana with a sniff. Jack hummed in agreement and turned the guy around. "It wasn't well thought out. Even if the Reaper didn't give us the heads up, this attack would have been way too-..."

He perked up as a groan caught his attention.  
\- suddenly the second agent sat upright. 

How-... Jack was sure he shot this guys brains out?! Hana shrieked in equal disbelieve and pulled her pistol. But the Soldier wasn't interested in any of them. In the blink of an eye he pulled something small and silver out of his vest and threw it, before Jack was able to bash the butt of his pulserifle to the back of his head. His body slammed to the ground with an ugly wet thud and he lay still once again. 

Hana blinked in bewilderment. "Well, that wasn't creepy at all", she said. Jack grunted his agreement. Creepy and dangerous. He felt kind of ridiculously paranoid, but in the end he stood up and shot both guys again. Just to make sure. Hana pulled a face at him. "Was that really necessary?"

Jack shrugged. "Sometimes it's necessary to bash some guys brains out with a pinata. Sometimes you shoot them twice. It's part of the fun."

Hana looked at him with wide disbelieving eyes. "You are funny. Not the 'haha' kind of funny, though. I guess it's an old military people thing."

Jacks wide grin maybe showed a little too many teeth. "Thanks."

Then he turned his attention to the clattering silver object that rolled away from them. Into the corner right under the propped up dropship clamped at the cieling. 

"... ... J... ck... ... Jack?", rustled Anas voice through the ComLine. He grabbed for the ComSign and followed the little silver ball that rolled over the Asphalt. "Ana! How are you guys?"

Ana let out a huff and Jack could picture her pulling the most annoyed face. "Everything fine. Mostly. With them, not so much. We can't find any survivors. We can not even sure if there were more Soldiers than the pilots on board."

It wasn't a grenade, not at all. It looked kind of like an holoemitter, Jack wasn't sure. Jack hummed distractedly and went into a croach to pick it up. "At lest two survivors who pushed through. But not anymore. Any sign of Gabe? I swear to god, if that Doofus never shows up to explain this shitshow, I will-..."

He stopped as the blinking silver device let out a silent click and opened in a smooth transition. It reminded him of a metallic flower, right before his brain caught up with him. 

"Well, shit...?! "

Horror flooded Jacks senses and tinted his sight a pulsing red as the object started to glow in a dangerous blood like hue. Something inside that device gave way and suddenly white light formed a humming familiar shape right in front of Jacks nose. His mouth went dry. 

A Hard light teleporter. Vishkar technology. 

Jack wanted to lift his gun and blow the thing up as fast as he could, but before he even got on his feet, a bright white flash rushed through the hall and with a haunting noise the Soldiers appeared by the dozen, while one of them in a fast reflex, curled his hand around Jacks throat and threw him backeards. 

Jacks entire world exploded into way too much and almost senseless motion as figure upon figure rushed into existence right in the heart of Gibraltar Watchpoint. Soldier upon Soldier, nimble moving snipers, fast and powerful Assassins, but the most horrifying were the three heavy assault tanks that dwarfed the swarm of Talon Agents like heavily armored giants. 

Talon, obviously, wanted to send a message that would make anyone who surrived this mess quiver in their boots and cry for mercy. 

It was the swiss headquarters all over again. 

It was just fair that most of the Talon agents were for some precious seconds as disoriented as Jack was. It was the only thing that gave him at least the chance to turn around and run. He abandoned his rifle, grabbed Hana tightly and pulled her save in front of him while he ran like a man posessed. 

Maybe five steps in, Talon opened fire. 

Jack felt the bullets riddle the ground right under his boots and bite at his skin and jacket as they whistled just barely past his head. The sprint to the Mech wasn't far, but it felt like an eternity. Especially as one guy landed a bulls eye right between Jacks shoulderblades. There went his chance of just running away, as his heart squeezed tightly and his lungs collapsed in a breathless scream for backup.

Jack had no choice. 

He pulled Hana high up into his arms, turned to use his momentum and with all his power - he threw her. 

While Hana maybe didn't find it to be a nice experience, she improvised like a pro and as she got hold of her Mech, slid inside in an exceptionally fast and smooth motion. 

While that happened, Jack slammed face first to the ground and pulled his arms tightly over his head. Not that it would help him much. All this time Ana screamed into her ComSign and asked for response. 

Everything around Jack was suddenly so deafning loud, that he didn't even hear the Mech move. It suddenly stood above him with an activated shield-matrix, which bought him at least enough time to slam down a biotic canister. 

If it wasn't for her shield they both, but especially Jack, would have been perforated to shreds as those tanks got themselves into position and opened fire. 

But D. Vas shield wasn't made to hold a position like Reinhardts was and Hana screamed in anger as the durability went down with every absorbed projectile. 

Thank god the heros came to the rescue. 

Reinhardts usually so shiny silver armor was dulled by debris and a hundred deep scratches as if he got mauled by a monstrous bear. His shield was up as he led the others out of the dust into the hall - right before he chargend with a maniacs laugh right into the swarming mess of enemies and slammed his Hammer DOWN. Talon opened fire in all directions while the footsoldiers kept on shielding that damn teleporter. 

A sudden prick in his back made Jacks head instantly feel clearer. It was like an Instinct to look up and search for Ana. He found her besides the Bastion unit on the walkway high above them. Always the watching eye. 

With a battle cry Brigitte swung her morningstar and Fareeha lifted herself up over the whirling dust, up to the hanging drop ship and used it as her ventage point. 

"That are a lot of bad guys", said Hana while she still shielded Jack as the biotic canister worked its wonders. The racket was so enormous, Jack could only hear her voice over the ComLine even though she stood right next to him. "What will we do with all the corpses?"

Torbjorn on the other side of the hall broke out in almost hysterical laughter, only to get shushed by Angela who shifted smoothly from agent to agent to aid in combat. "Hana! Thats 'so' inappropriate!"

"Well? ", she hummed and helped Jack to get back up on his feet. He let out a deep pained groan and pressed a hand to his lower back. He was pretty sure he could feel the damn bullet in his back shift inside of him. That wouldn't be much fun for the rest of the day. "I'm not wrong to ask, am I?"

Jack wouldn't say it aloud, but he asked himself the same thing. While they often left behind corpses of those damn terrorists, usually the new Overwatch organization didn't shit were they ate. Usually they just escaped the place and left the clean up to the authorities. But this time they had lots and lots of dead terrorists in their own damn yard?!

"Seems like we have to leave for a vacation soon", Jack muttered roughly. 

As if they wanted to make D. Vas point for her, the flood of Talon agents did not stop. It was as if they unleashed hells legions on them.  
The hilariously best thing about all that shit was, that Jack couldn't even dash back into the fight to get his pulserifle back, without risking to be shot to pieces.

So he used Hanas Mech as a mobile cover and put the especially cocky agents down with his service revolver and a knife. A. Damn. Knife. 

What a fucking idiot brought a knife to a gunfight?! 

The situation was especially bad because it didn't matter how hard they fought - Jack and D. Va were located on the other side of the battlefield. If things got fucked, it would be hard for the others to help them both out without risking to get themselves badly hurt in the process. 

It was already a hard fight, because D. Va was hard pressed to fight so numerous little targets all at once. They swarmed around her and shot at the drones joints to make her fall, while some especially bold guys climbed the drone in a try to pry the lit open and pull Hana out. 

Jack got most of the guys that Hana missed and stomped an agent down from her who had enough time to ram his knife into the hinges of the opening. 

But then one of the tanks turned into their direction and Jack felt all color leaving his face. 

As fast as he could he jumped and ducked into D.Vas shadow. Hana turned with a boost and knocked the following agents down like pins on a bowling line before she activated her shield matrix. The tanks minigun fire was absorbed cleanly. With a flick of her thumb she activated her toxic green micro misles and ripped everything apart right in front of her. 

Curious she leant in Jacks direction. "Alright?!"

Jack, who wheezed his defeat with every pull of air and his hands steadied on his knees, lifted his hand for a thump up. "Thanks. "

Hana giggled. 

Suddenly there was the sound of a roaring engine. Jack was slammed backwards before he knew what was happening. The power behind it lifted him right off his feet and threw him backwards with such power, he whacked right against the wall above the entrance gate. 

With a deep and sore groan he fell to the ground with a wet splat that was almost too much for his own stomach to handle. Everything went black for a blink and Jack couldn't even determine if he had been out for hours or just some seconds. Hacking and coughing he felt with tingling fingers for the back of his head. Hot blood was smeared all over his nape and trickled down into his collar. 

He was pulled on his feet again long before he got his witts back. They shot him. He was sure they did, even through he sure as hell wasn't able to follow anything else that was happening around him. His brain felt like mush and he was losing blinks of time. His throat burned with acid and felt way too sore. A shadow appeared and merged with the blakish smoke that was damn well everywhere, while unholy screeching filled his ears. 

 

As he blinked again he laid on the ground and Lucio leaned over him. His healing beat hummed through Jacks mushy brain and while it didn't relax him like usual, it made him at least not longer wanting to barf his own guts out. He would have said something and asked what happened but his throat hurt way too my, h for that. 

"It's alright man, you will be fine. Just hold on a little longer", said Lucio in a calming but professionell tone while he performed a checkup in midst of a raging battlefield. He carefully propped up Jacks head with his own jacket, shone a light in his eyes and, in between movement, longed for his gun to knock a maniacally laughing assassin away from them. 

All while he was doing that, he babbled away in a soothing voice as if he talked to a disoriented child. Jack didn't hold it against him. He kind of felt like one. "Don't worry, we got you. Just stay with me, alright?"

Jack did as he was told and Lucio activated a biotic canister. It was not the first one it seamed by the little stack of them beside his head. The delicate yellow glow burned away the lesser injuries, but did nothing about making Jack feel again like a human being. Disoriented he turned his head as far as Lucio allowed him and tried to make sense of everything that was going on around him. 

The first thing he noticed was that Gabriel was inside the hall. Like the devil personified he led the assault against his own agents who never saw it coming and seemed way too confused if they should attack him or not. As Jack followed a snipers line of sight he spotted sombra up on the perch right by Anas side, dangeling her feet and hacking away on her projected purple display.

The weirdest thing, though he wasn't sure if he imagined it or not, was Dr. O'Deorain who rushed between the teeming agents with her deep purple and brightly golden biotic orbs and looked like a big and scary bat everytime she faded away. 

\- But what happened...? Where was Hana?

Slowly he turned his head to the other side, to the yard behind the hangar and yes. There she was.

Together with Genji, who placed himself on top of the Mech, she fought against one of the tanks that wasn't already taken apart by the united effort of a wild Reaper, Reinhardt and Sombra. That must have been the thing that knocked him out of the way then. 

It wasn't working well for them. Hanas Mech looked as if something had tried to claw it's way inside and Genji was bleeding freely from some deep gashes on his exposed arm and chest. "How are you holding up, Genji?", asked Lucio as if he read Jacks mind, while he pressed a Hand down on Jacks stomach and activated another canister. 

Genji answered mostly in gasps and grunts, way too deep in concentration to answer. Hana activated her boost and rammed into the way too big monstrosity while Genji reflected it's bullets back at it. 

"Can not say it is my best performance", Genji quipped before he sprung with brandished katana into action again. But even the fine steel of his homelands seemed not to be sharp enough to slay a metal monster like that on its own. Was there even a human in there? Or were they just Omnics, even more horrifying than the way smaller bastion units and the OR models? 

"Hmm, could need a little help here. If I get that thing to the cliffside, do you think you can boop it over?"

Lucio snorted while he pressed Jack carefully down as he tried to sit up. "Don't tempt me to boop 'you' over, too. "

Genji laughed almost maniacally as he dashed out of the way when the tank charged with frightening speed and power right into a wall in a try to pin him. "You know what? Any time!"

Lucio blinked and for the first time looked around to spot Genji. "Huh? For real?"

\- "Sure!" 

"You know there are kids listening you freaky old perverts!", groused Hana and flicked her micro misles on again in a hope they maybe could peel the armor off of the thing. Genji broke out in helpless laughter that almost got him killed in a show, that almost made Jacks soul leave his tingeling body in a hurtful fright.  
"Stop screwing around!", he rasped wheezing and almost toneless. "You need to focus! Put it down!!"

"Understood!", was the fast and sharp answer of both of his agents. 

"Don't speak. You should know better than me how much it hurts", said Lucio, this time not for a second taking his eyes off of Genjis fight.  
Jack would have roles his eyes, if he hadn't felt so ill. "It's just pain. Just some brain signals..."

Jack felt pretty much like shit. His insides felt like mushed potatoes. He wasn't sure if he could feel his toes. At this time it would have been easier to notice things that did 'not' hurt. But he new his share of pain. And he wasn't an enhanced super soldier for nothing. "I can handle that... I'll surrive. Like I always-...."

A sudden deafening crash and a wild horrified scream made Lucio spring up on his feet. The monstrous thing had gotten hold on D. Va and slammed her into the wall. The grip of the monster made it impossible for her to get away and suddenly it rammed it's minigun right into the mechanics - and fired. 

The Drone was ripped right open and bled its cooling fluids. Hana howled almost inhumanly. It was a sound that ruptured souls apart. 

In a blink Jack was right there, blinked awake on the shoulders of that monstrosity and rammed his knife again and again and again into it's neck were he could see the connections and thick cables that powered it's brain - if it even had one. 

"Get her!", He rasped with a ruined voice and pulled his revolver in desperation to fire all his remaining bullets right into the damn tin cans head. It bucked and squirmed and bashed blindly around with its heavy arms. It 'had' to be an omnic. No way an actual human worked that thing! 

Bright white sparks flew burning hot and whistling and burned Jacks inner tighs, but that monster still kept on moving. 

Roaring like a beast it suddenly lifted one of it's guns over its shoulder and blindly fired. 

The recoil of the minigun was almost hard enough to bring it out of balance, and jostled Jack enough that he couldn't fully dodge the spray of bullets fast enough without giving up his position. And he could not let go. 

As long as Jack distracted it, Lucio and Genji had time to cut and pull at the Mech to get the girl out. "Hana?!"

Her erratic breaths were worrying but she sounded collected enough. "Still alive", she gasped.  
His service revolver was empty, so Jack threw it away and rammed his slippery hands into the omnics neck. He braced himself onto his knees and pulled. 

Cables ripped out of place and connections broke noisily, but it was still not enough to make that monster stop movimg. "Hana! Get self destruction ready, before that bastard kills us all!", Jack rasped with a throat full of gurgiling blood. In desperation Jack pulled his hand back and searched in his pocket for that damn EMP. "Genji, I need you to stay back now!"

The tingling burn as he activated it crawled up his entire arm, burned his fingers and made his damn artificial eyes malfunction like expected. But it was also suddenly way harder to keep breathing and to hold his position with suddenly way too numb fingers. 

The tank roared a battle cry that broke up in nightmarish static sounds, but it still kept on moving. Erratic the omnic bucked under Jack as it suddenly slammed one arm up and right into him.

He lost time again. 

As he came to himself he crawled over the asphalt in a desperate attempt to get away. But as the Monster stumbled, one of its massive heels stomped right down onto him. Jack wasn't sure if he actually made a sound. 

It was just his bad luck that the now mostly immobile omnic crashed down right onto him as it's systems failed. 

The last thing he heard was the quivering hum of the Mech unit in preparation for self destruction and Genjis scream for backup. 

Everything got upside down then. 

It just couldn't always end well for everyone.


End file.
